Emptying the inbox

'Tis the time of year to look in my inbox to see what is nice enough to be naughty and stay out late for.

Or called cherry-picking the inbox...

I'll start off with the Tribute to John Peel in the Kino Cinema on Thursday December 30.... 7.30pm has the documentary Teenage Kicks then the event moves to The Vineyard where Jim X-Comet takes over.

Also, something worth staying in for? Podge and Rodge take over the 2FM from 11 'til noon on Christmas Eve. I think I need to buy a blank tape...

Something more suitable for small children is... Santa's Magical Trail Children follow a trail around the Fota Wildlife Park, ending with a visit to Santa. Fota Wildlife Park, Carrigtwohill, Mon-Sat 10am- 3.30pm, Sun 11am - 3.30pm until December 24th, children €14, adults €8 (021- 4812678)

Now... in chronological order...

Sorry for the number of Lobby gigs mentioned, but they e-mail out their gig list... so they get mentioned.
I'd like to see other venues doing the same thing. Hint HINT.

December 21
9pm The Berries play the Lobby Bar. €7
Xmas Party...Cork band who recently released their 2nd EP ‘If They Don’t Care Why Should I?’
I have to admit, never heard them, love the name.

December 29
9pm Echogram play the Lobby Bar. €7
Freak FM are trying to hype them (god or God help them).

December 30
9pm Elephant play the Lobby Bar. €7
Odd and quirky with good music. My ideal date, however none of them are interested.


December 31
No Starting Time. The Frank and Walters play The Crúiscín Lan, Douglas Street.

December 31
9pm. Opera House New Years Party at Cork Opera House
Included are... Cartoon, The Shades, Stevie G and Jim X-Comet
Tickets: €15 (All telephone bookings are subject to a booking fee of €2 per ticket)

December 31
8.30pm. Cracking in The Half Moon Theatre
Includes Sumu, The Berries, Snatch Comedy Improv and DR Fiasco.
Tickets: €15 (All telephone bookings are subject to a booking fee of €2 per ticket)

January 1 (2005)
9pm Mick Flannery plays the Lobby Bar. €7
Know nothing about the guy, but I suspect most venues are in recovery mode on January 1st anyway.
Cork musician originally from Blarney who was once a member of Cork band Black Orange. Has also wrote and played for the musical score of ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’(Dramask Production) which the Examiner described the soundtrack as ‘superb’.

January 8
2.30pm Eoin Coughlan plays the Lobby Bar. €10
"Eoin has been busy recording his album with the highly regarded producer Dave Odlum in the Black Box Studios in France and his last show in The Lobby was a sell out. His album is due for release soon. "
No doubt he'll be playing some new stuff from it

January 8
9pm. Stanley Super 800 play the Lobby Bar. €10
You either love these or hate these. Personally, they record great, but live can be patchy.

January 14
9pm Gavin Moore plays the Lobby Bar. €7
"Born in to what is arguably Ireland's most famous music family (no I think that the Brennans are better known thanks to Enya), Gavin Moore respects the influences of his uncles Christy Moore and Luka Bloom, but musically, this singer songwriter is most definitely his own man."
Love the blurb. I'm curious. Could be great but... we'll see.

January 15
9pm Juno Falls plays the Lobby Bar. €8
"Dublin band who’s debut album Starlight Drive garnered some rave reviews as well as some very impressive pop songs indeed.."
Again you either love or hate these.

February 18 (2005)
No starting time. The Wedding Present + support play Cyprus Avenue.
Tickets €20 available from Cyprus Avenue, The Old Oak and Plugg'd Records, Washington Street
Emerging in the wake of the Smiths' demise as the U.K.'s most successful indie-pop band and formed from the ashes of the short-lived Lost Pandas, the Weddoes (as they were affectionately dubbed by fans) were essentially the vehicle of singer/songwriter David Gedge.

take care,
Will

Come in to my room

As part of the Cork 2005 European Capital of Culture Celebrations, the Federation of Music Collectives (FMC) have teamed up with the PeoplesRepublicOfCork.com to bring Cork music of the 21st century live to the international music community.

Beginning in January and running throughout the year, Cork bands will be invited to submit mp3s of their music along with bands photos and biographies to form part of a Cork music Room. Artists will then be given codes to access their data to keep the site current throughout the year. FMC will use its local, national and international contacts to drive media and music industry to the site.

Yeah, it is a promotional tool. But some tools are good!

In theory the details should be on the Cork 2005 web site, but the details are all here.

take care,
Will

Prose with blood pressure

Who on earth coined this phrase about Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood"?

Anyway the play is due to run in the Granary Theatre from Thursday January 13 until Saturday January 15.

The production is in aid of Marymount Hospice and is being produced by coco coco. The Cork Co-Operative and Cork Collective, Combined for Charity. coco coco draws its members from ‘resting’ Cork based performers and practitioners.

Heading up the creative team is stage director Marion Wyatt, whose most recent
work Singin' In The Rain was an enormous success both here and in Dublin. The cast, in multiple roles, includes twelve of Cork’s finest actors: Deirdre O’Riordan, Ann Dorgan, Rosie O’Regan, Shevaun Hogan, Joy Buckle, Barry O’Reilly, Ian McGuirk, David O’Brien, Charlie Ruxton, Kieran McCarthy, Shane Casey and Paschal Scott.

Tickets are available at The Granary box office. 20 euro each (€10 for school groups) at 7pm & 9.15pm.

Take care,
Will

Christmas is...

"Economists define adulthood as the moment at which your expenditure
on Christmas presents first exceeds the value of the gifts you can
expect to receive,"
-- today's Financial Times.

Curtains

There are some things I hate about Cork City.

Sometimes I change my mind.

One of which is... Drive down Popes Quay... It's a one way system, and you can't get off it. You drive down to the North Gate Bridge and wait at the lights. The lights change to green and you turn left to cross the bridge, just in time to see the lights at the other end of the bridge change to red.

So you're stuck there. When they were doing road works in the area, the lights at least let the bridge clear, but no, they changed the lights back.

So you're stuck there.

Staring at the North Gate Building.

A residential building.

With no curtains.

You know the phrase, "dance like there's no one watching". Well I would like to thank the people on the third floor for putting on a most entertaining show while I was stuck on the bridge waiting for the lights to change.

You may want to buy some curtains now.

take care,
Will

Quotable quotes

What Lucky did to me was make me stop kidding myself," ... "I learned you aren't good just because people around you say you're good."
-- Ray Charles
He's reflecting on his failed audition, at the age of 17, for the famous bandleader Lucky Millinder.

You think you're good. Your friends and family say you're good. Independent opinion matters.

Christmas is...

the smell of stale wino coming from Santa's grotto

Life extinct

"Hang myself from the Tree" by The Vandals is getting a lot of play from Freak FM. I suppose a song about killing yourself at Christmas is seasonal. On that note...

Once a week, somewhere along the 213 miles of the Thames, a dead body is washed ashore. But only rarely do these discoveries make the news; most simply become forgotten victims of the river. Zaiba Malik of the Guardian meets those who find them - and those they leave behind.

Somehow I could see this "team" being the English version of CSI.

take care,
Will

South to come south

I have a funny feeling that I mentioned this before but..

The Beautiful South are visiting the Cork Opera House on March 7 2005. In theory it's in support of their covers album Golddiggaz, Headnodders and Pholk Songs, which includes reworked versions of Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear The Reaper' and S Club 7's 'Don't Stop Moving'.

The House of Love reopens for business


A little earlier, January we have The House of Love (alive again after 12 years) showing up in the PRoC. They play Cyprus Avenue on January 29 2005.

take care,
Will

Freaking images

I don't know how long this image will stay up for, and I probably should delete it after the new year's ball...

But here is the party planner from Freakscene



Thanks to Dodgy

Spilling

Looks like John Spillane is due to arrive at the Everyman Palace on Sunday December 19. And he is bringing lots of his special friends.

Actually sounds scary.

Will

Lobbying

The The Lobby Bar sent out it's weekly reminders of events.

There are two things of interest. And something else.

First off, I missed Josh Ritter in the Opera House. I'm not really a fan. Don't know why, I like people how do his kind of stuff... Oh well.

Secondly, Niall Connolly is playing on Friday (17) and Saturday (18 of December). Which is something that I'd like to see.

Something of note, which I know I'll miss is the regular Colaiste Stiofain Noafa showcase on Thursday 16. Something always happens, so I'm going to assume I'm not going to be there to save time.

take care,
Will

Christmas greetings

May You Receive All The Peace And Comfort of Your Chosen Religious Beliefs, While Cherishing The Freedom To Laugh at The Beliefs of Others, or, if You Don't Really Believe in Anything, an iPod.


Taken from here.

Finn-ish

News just in my inbox..

The Finn Brothers are to play Cork Opera House on Sunday, 3 April 2005

Showtime

Well the show is going more or less OK. We've messed up every night, but no one in the audience seems to have noticed (other than the blackout not happening on queue...)

So on Sunday, I'll try to have the gig guide stuff collected all ready to post up here.

take care,
Will

Overheard

Twosheds: "It's amazing, when you go to the continent with small children."
Rocker: "What do you mean?"
Twosheds: "You get treated differently. The kids go around smiling at people, and they smile at them and then you..."
DrBell "At at what point do you notify the authorities"
Me: "I think you've just outlined one of the main difference between Ireland and the UK with mainland Europe"
-- It's amazing what comes up at lunch

Savoy re-opening weekend

It's back...

Friday Dec 10. Doors 10pm. €12. Robert Owens with support from Angi. Wiggle in the front room. Someone called Gazelle doing static trapeze and silks routine, not too sure if this is the usual lobby thing, or if it's over the main stage.

Saturday Dec 11. Doors 11pm. €10. Stevie G.. No support. Graham Finn in the front room. Gazelle is back again.

And now, the important bit...

Pub prices are being charged not nightclub prices. Cloakroom charge at €1 per item which is reasonable. Soft drinks and mixers same as Bodega (ie 25% reduction from last time). Kronenbourg will be available from Jan 4th at €3 per pint.

All this taken from Zeitgeist

Opening night

My play, "The Curious Savage" opens tonight in the CAT Club / Cork Arts Theatre.

It's going to be weird.
It's a comedy, but everybody involved in the play, or at the rehearsals has at least been at one or two readings. Which mean no laughs.

A comedy without laughs is an odd idea, but a rehearsal without them is pretty normal.

Of course a rehearsal with bits of the set being built around you is a little off putting.

Which means that things are going to be weird tonight. A fresh, hopefully paying, hopefully laughing audience.

Yes the nerves are setting in.

There is of course a bitter-sweet part to all this (if it wasn't bitter-sweet, then it wouldn't be my life now would it).

We've the last play in the CAT Club.

The site was due for demolition and re-building last year (rebuilding for Cork 2005), but planning appeals meant that it's dragged on until now.

I'll miss the place (but not the rehearsal rooms).

take care,
Will

Look out for the headlights

I think some little girl almost had the **** kicked out of her at Hallowe'en.

Somebody made a custom kids Optimus Prime costume.

(I'm assuming girl but it could be a little boy I suppose)

Oh, and it appears to be the long smoke stacks version!

take care,
Will

Rumour mill

The recently re-licenced Savoy Theatre is rumoured to be playing host to 2manydj's on dec 21st.

Things I learned this weekend

Do not mix up BMS with BDSM.

Conversations get interesting, in the wrong way.

Skinless in Seattle

I remember the Körperwelten exhibition (probably work safe, but not completely lunch safe) when I visited Austria (during the last chance back-pack inter-rail holiday I took. Actually the last holiday I took).

At the time, Gunther von Hagen wasn't well know, and most of the staff were students in white coats. Also we had about three words of German between the four of us (Danke, Bitte and Bier). All of this meant that it wasn't until we were leaving that we realised that the "fake flayed human bodies" posing around us were not fake flayed human bodies. ("Wow. You add fake hair on to the arms". "Fake?").

Anyway, the exhibition has expanded (the original didn't have the "horse and rider") and it's touring the United States.

Anyway, you can download a Hacked Hacker as a wallpaper.

From the photo, I think that they did something awful to the face...
probably too much spam.

take care,
Will

Spma, no it's psam no it's...

This morning, the crew on the radio were twittering about "Hard Spell" (a televised spelling competition for kids), and the fact that there is an online spelling test against the clock on their website.

This was in the middle of the review of the papers. That crowd have an attention span of Kiki.

Ohhh shiny.

Sorry.

Anyway, in other news, here is a report from the BBC. Lycos Europe created a screen saver to bombard spammers URLs with requests. The idea was to make spam economically unviable.
However it's been a little too successful.

Two of the three sites targeted keeled over, and the third is struggling.

So much for "it's not a DoS attack".

take care,
Will

I will survive

I know it's a joke, and probably an advert but Yahoo's Guide on how to survive without the internet is a but of fun anyway.